Professional Documents
Culture Documents
20
Daily
By katrIna phIllIps Features editor
the Brown
Herald
Since 1891
As Rhode Island faces the highest rates of foreclosures in New England, legislators and activist
U. sexual Proposed firing policy faces opposition first when there is a reduction students across the state and the misconduct in student population. The bills country needs to know that teachamendments would expand the ing offers a definite amount of job policies A bill introduced in the Rhode criteria for firing to include pro- security, Guthrie said. Representatives In any job, there appropriate, Island House ofthe states current gram reduction or elimination or some level of security,has to be would expand budget reduction. The measure, Guthrie policy for firing teachers through proposed by state Rep. Scott Guth- said. You shouldnt be hired and rie, D-Coventry, is currently fac- fired at the whim of anybody. admins say city & state ing opposition from state officials But critics have said focusBy sona mkrttchIan senior staFF Writer By hannah aBeloW senior staFF Writer
After a smattering of widely publicized sexual misconduct cases on its campus in recent years, Yale officials announced last month they will begin providing the university community with details twice each year about misconduct cases filed with the administration. Though Brown administrators said they have no plans to implement a similar policy, they said the University is already ahead of the curve. Yale is doing this partly because there have been challenges that they have not been forthcoming with this, said Margaret Klawunn, vice president for campus life and student services, referring to the recent scandals on Yales campus. Last March, a group of 16 Yale students and graduates alleged that the university failed to abide by Title IX, a federal gender equality law, by allowing sexual harassment to remain prevalent on campus. I think weve done our best to be forthcoming with this information, Klawunn added. continued on page 4
a process that prioritizes how long they have been teaching. Under current law, teachers with the least amount of experience in a given district are fired
and local teachers unions. By expanding the criteria for seniority-based firing, the bill aims to reduce districts incentives to fire teachers based on performance. The expansion is necessary because
ing solely on seniority could give poorly performing teachers a free pass. Clearly, when teacher layoffs and callbacks are based solely on continued on page 8
Though Provost Mark Schlissel P15 declined a proposal Monday to fund an on-campus Civil Rights Library for Racial Justice, he gave the projects supporters a detailed message of how to move forward, said Geoffrey Eaton, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples Mid-Manhattan branch and a supporter of the project. The proposed library, to be named in honor of Paul B. Zuber 47 P80 and Barbara Johnson Zuber P80, is intended to function as a dedicated home for the Universitys Africana Studies collection and other resources related to the African diaspora and civil rights
movements. Schlissel cited the pressures of current financial circumstances and competing needs on the Universitys budget in his response to the proposal. But in his message to Samantha Jackson GS, the author of the library proposal, he laid out a comprehensive list of ways that she, the Samuel M. Nabrit Black Graduate Student Association and the undergraduate Black Student Union could move forward with the proposal, Jackson said. Schlissel advised the groups to review existing Africana Studies collections, begin fundraising on their own and increase the presence of black students in the student groups advising University librarcontinued on page 3
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2 Campus news
C ALEndAR
TODAY 4 P.m. How Scientists Think, Hunter Lab, Carmichael Auditorium 8 P.m. Piano Music of Mohammed Fairouz, Granoff Center 8 P.m. The Brown StorySlam, Kassar House FEbRUARY 23 TOmORROW 8 P.m. The Roaring Girl, Granoff Center for the Arts, Studio 1 FEbRUARY 24
MEnu
SHARPE REFECTORY Zucchini and Parmesan Sandwich, Falafel in Pita Bread with Tzatziki Sauce, Chicken Pot Pie VERNEY-WOOLLEY DINING HALL LUNCH Grilled Montreal Chicken, Enchilada Bar, Cucumber Chickpea Salad, Mushroom Pasta Salad
DINNER Cheese Tomato Strata, Oven Browned Potatoes, Beef Strips Shish Kabob, Fried Tortillas Mango Chicken with Mango Salsa, Pudim de Leite (Flan), Portuguese Sweet Bread, Vegetarian Jagacid
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Last weekend Brown hosted the IvyQ conference, which included speakers, discussions, social events and a career fair.
47 Stuck, after in 48 Major-__ 49 Rapper __ Fiasco 50 Pulitzer-winning WWII journalist 51 $150 Monopoly prop. 52 Carry 53 Gloomy 54 Present opening? 55 Asian flatbread 57 The Purloined Letter monogram
queen performance, followed by clubbing downtown. Students seeking a calmer, more sober experience could attend Thursday nights opening talent showcase or a late-night movie screening that represented an alternative to Saturdays clubbing. This year, the conference established family groups of 20 to 25 participants that were led by conference coordinators. These groups offered a new way for attendees to branch out socially. The family groups met Friday for the Identity Open House, where they moved among several rooms in the Stephen Robert 62 Campus Center, stopping at stations for each gender or sexual identity including gay, straight, transgender, bi- and pansexual and none of the above. Their parent leaders facilitated discussions on each identity, allowing participants to share anecdotes and opinions or ask questions. Participants with more pragmatic goals found their niche at the conferences career and activism fairs. At the activism fair that concluded the conference Sunday morning, students could speak with nonprofits and other activist organizations with missions related to gender and sexuality, giving them a chance to discover how to get involved in the issues they had discussed over the weekend. The career fair gave the conferences top corporate sponsors a venue to talk shop and seek out potential future LGBTQ employees. Some students took issue with the level of involvement these sponsors were given in the conference. They hosted a party Thursday night to express their dissent and handed out flyers stating their views. Bornstein said she spoke with a member of the dissenting group and offered them a chance to take the stage and voice their opinions at the beginning of her address. No one spoke up.
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02/23/12
Daily
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Danielle Marshak, Treasurer Siena DeLisser, Secretary
The Brown Daily Herald (USPS 067.740) is an independent newspaper serving the Brown University community daily since 1891. It is published Monday through Friday during the academic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement and once during Orientation by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Single copy free for each member of the community. POSTMASTER please send corrections to P.O. Box 2538, Providence, RI 02906. Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. Subscription prices: $280 one year daily, $140 one semester daily. Copyright 2011 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.
02/23/12
edIToRIAl
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Campus news 3
BY K ATE nuSSEnBAuM SEnIOR STAFF wRITER
HIGHER Ed nE wS R OunduP
George Huguely V was found guilty of killing his former girlfriend, university of Virginia student and lacrosse player Yeardley Love, wednesday. He now faces up to 40 years in prison after being convicted of second-degree murder and up to 20 years in prison for larceny. The jury took nine hours to make its decision, according to ABC news. Loves mother and sister gave testimony after the jury announced its verdict, ABC news reported. Its still with me every day from sunup to sundown, Loves mother said during her testimony. Every single day is different. Some days its just unbearable.
Students admitted Early decision visited campus Monday to hear from faculty members and students and get a glimpse of their future home.
4 Campus news
U. clarifies sex offense policies
continued from page 1 Brown regularly posts case reports on the Department of Public Safety website in compliance with the Clery Act, which requires universities to disclose information about crimes committed on campus and release an annual security report that lists all cases. The 2011 Annual Security Report listed nine on-campus forcible sex offenses in 2010, down from 10 in 2009. We feel like were making the information available, Klawunn said, adding that University adminstrators are communicating with student groups interested in information related to sexual misconduct and have regular meetings of the sexual assault advisory board, which recognizes student input. These actions accomplish many of the same goals as Yales new system, just in a different way, she said. Both Klawunn and Provost Mark Schlissel P15 emailed the community this fall reiterating the Universitys sexual misconduct policy, procedures and commitment to ensuring cases of sexual misconduct are properly
nE wS In BRIEF
Chafee joins re-election team
President Barack Obama named Gov. Lincoln Chafee 75 P14 one of 35 co-chairs to his re-election campaign yesterday, multiple news organizations reported wednesday. Gov. deval Patrick of Mass. is the only other current governor named to the campaign, and many of the co-chairs are current or former government officials. Actress Eva Longoria was also named a co-chair. Chafee served as a Republican in the u.S. Senate with Obama, though he left the party to become an independent in 2007. Chafee endorsed and campaigned for Obama in his run for president. Though Hillary Clinton won the 2008 Rhode Island democratic primary, Obama won the state in the general election with a 63 percent majority, one of his most substantial margins of victory. when Chafee ran for governor in 2010, Obama did not endorse the democrat running for the office, Frank Caprio, in a show of support for Chafee. In response, Caprio reportedly said the president could take his endorsement and shove it. Last March, Rhode Islanders gave Obama his fifth-highest approval rating in the country at 53 percent. elizabeth Carr
handled on campus. Following the U.S. Department of Educations Office for Civil Rights release of the Dear Colleague letter in April detailing Title IX guidelines, the administration made further revisions to the code this summer, though Yolanda Castillo-Appollonio, assistant dean in the Office of Student Life, said it was already very much in compliance with the letter.
Minor changes included revisions to the appeals process so the complainant and the respondent can both make appeals. The University also clarified some language in the code to make sure things were understood, CastilloAppollonio said, adding that University officials are now required to notify involved parties of their decisions in writing. Calling sexual assault the most underreported crime across
the country, Klawunn said sexual misconduct may be more prevalent than it seems on Browns campus, as some Yale students alleged of their university. We know that there are many more incidents, and were only seeing the ones where someone is interested in coming forward. The Universitys sexual misconduct policy is next scheduled for review in the spring of 2015. If there is a reason to review it before then, any member of the community can come forth and ask it to be reviewed, CastilloAppollonio said.
Campus news 5
cheese wiz
Paul Shanley, deputy chief of police of department of Public Safety, visited uCS this week to address campus safety after a rise in crimes near campus.
Due to a spike in crime near campus this semester, the University has increased police presence in the area from 23 to 36 officers, said Russell Carey 91 MA 06, senior vice president for Corporation affairs and governance, at Wednesdays general body meeting of the Undergraduate Council of Students. Carey and Paul Shanley, deputy chief of police of the Department of Public Safety, attended this weeks meeting to discuss campus safety after issuing six crime alerts this school year. The University is working to reduce crime by conducting a lighting survey, Carey said. Many of the crimes have occurred in poorly-lit areas. Bratton Group, a security consulting firm, has also been hired to perform an assessment of campus safety. The University underwent a similar safety evaluation following high on-campus crime rates in 2001 and 2002, which were twice the level that they are this academic year, Carey said. In another effort to improve campus safety, campus police have been allowed to carry arms since 2006. The University is working on preventive measures since it is rare that a robbery suspect is actually arrested after committing a crime, Carey said. He noted that none of the perpetrators of the six instances this year have been apprehended. Carey said blue light emergency phones and surveillance cameras around campus also improve security, though he noted students rarely use the blue light phones. Since the University has hundreds of cameras, not every security feed can be constantly observed, he added. Its not like a Vegas operation where we have people watching all the time, Shanley said. David Rattner 13, vice presi-
dent of the council, announced UCS Week will be held from March 5 to March 9 and will feature the State of Brown Address with President Ruth Simmons March 8. During the week, the Campus Life Committee plans to host an event where different dining hall vendors will provide food samples to students, said Michael Schneider 13, the campus life committee chair. Attendees can then give dining hall personnel feedback about the different samples. The event is part of the committees work to reduce the number of students going off the meal plan, he added. Other events during the UCS week will include a day of yoga classes in the Bears Lair and a screening of the The Ides of March. During committee updates, Mae Cadao 13, chair of the student activities committee, said the New Leadership Orientation will be tonight at 8 p.m. in Wilson 102. The meetings will help make students more attractive candidates when applying for leadership positions, said Ralanda Nelson 12, the president of UCS. Cadao also said the deadline for categorization as a student group has been extended to next Monday, Feb. 27. Rattner announced that Richard Bova, senior associate dean of residential and dining services, and Margaret Klawunn, vice president for campus life and student services, will attend the March 7 council meeting to discuss housing improvements. The council also passed a resolution supporting optional gender-neutral housing for firstyears, discussed the possibility of acquiring an online New York Times subscription for students and held a semi-annual vote of confidence in Nelson and Rattner. The council affirmed their support for the two leaders through the vote.
Fancheezical, which specializes in grilled cheese sandwiches, is the latest food truck to venture onto Thayer Street.
6 today in history
TOdAY In unIVERSIT Y HISTORY
BY SOnA MKR T TCHIAn SEnIOR STAFF wRITER
1952
Gil Borjeson 52, a member of the mens track and field team, won the IC4A championship in the 35-pound weight throw in 1952.
1962
1972
In 1962, the university petitioned to close this section of Manning Street to build what would later become Barus and Holley, a controversial decision that angered many local residents.
Right wing Mike Powers 73 (left) contributed greatly to the Bears offensive attack in this game against Yale in 1972.
today in history 7
1982
The Reserve Officers Training Corps has been a topic of campus discussion for decades. In 1982, Professor of History and Faculty Policy Group Chairman william McLoughlin (left) and Pierre Galletti (right), dean of the medical school, discussed the possibility of bringing ROTC to Brown.
2002
Members of the Corporation unanimously pledged $79 million for President Ruth Simmons Proposal for Academic Enrichment in 2002.
Josiahs opened in the fall of 1991. By Feb. 23, 1992, the Ivy Room was suffering from empty tables and a lack of business due to strong competition from Jos.
2012
Students chat, eat and study in the Blue Room, where recent renovations showcase just how much the university has changed over the years.
8 Campus news
State pilots teacher evaluation process
continued from page 1 seniority, student interests are not part of the process, wrote Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Deborah Gist in an email to The Herald, adding that she values educator quality over seniority in the teacher retention process. But Guthrie said he thinks teacher evaluations the most commonly used form of measuring performance can often be an inadequate basis for retention. I dont think there are poor-performing teachers, he said, adding that teaching is a profession that involves growth and improvement over the length of a career. Often, one poorly performing student could actually be the cause of a bad teacher evaluation, he added. Teacher performance is often a widely discussed issue in the state, which was recently ranked second in the nation for its policies toward teachers by the National Council on Teacher Quality. The single most important school-based factor in the successful education of our students is the quality of our classroom teachers, Gist wrote. Educators are working to incorporate new peer-based and administrative teacher evaluations passed by the Rhode Island Board of Regents, said Frank Flynn, president of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals. In the third and final year of the evaluations pilot program, Flynn said districts are trying to provide the training and support for teachers to become successful using them. Flynn said teachers are not opposed to evaluation systems that track student growth. Its a model that is designed to provide feedback to the teachers and improve their craft, he said. But Flynn said teachers have objected to the second portion of the bill, which aims to push back the date by which schools must inform teachers of layoffs. Currently, the law requires schools to inform educators on or before March 1 about layoffs. The bill would extend the deadline to May 15. Flynn said this is problematic for districts that may want to focus on resolving performance problems prior to conclusive termination. If the deadline is pushed back, teachers will receive notice of their termination later and not get the chance to attempt to improve their performance, he said. The current deadline also puts districts in an awkward position because of the discrepancy between the academic year and the fiscal year, which begins in July, Gist said. Because March 1 occurs so early in the budgeting process, districts tend to send layoff notices to a large number of teachers, most of whom they will reinstate before the close of the school year, Gist wrote. This notification process causes undue stress and confusion. The proposed amendment would be just one of many changes being implemented in school districts across the state. Flynn noted that many schools are experiencing a morale problem because of the number of changes being enacted over such a short period of time, adding that school administrators are finding it difficult to enforce changes without the necessary personnel to do so. People do not think they are supported at the school level, Flynn said. There has been some pushback lately. Its great to have good policies, but we need to implement them on a realistic timeline.
Growing student interest has led the urban debate League to expand.
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The state Senate and House are currently discussing bills intended to better the lives of Rhode Islands homeless.
COMICS
Fraternity of Evil | Eshan Mitra, Brendan Hainline and Hector Ramirez
10 editorial
High stakes for Rhode Island
In September 2010, the Rhode Island Board of Regents decided to increase the importance of state tests as a requirement for high school graduation. Consequently, state standardized tests, which focus heavily on English and math, now count for one-third of a students graduation eligibility instead of ten percent. This decision was strongly opposed by parents, teachers and union leaders, and a bill was recently filed to prevent the use of standardized tests altogether in deciding whether or not a student can graduate. Given that these tests are insufficient to judge the overall potential of a student, and considering the established link between success on test scores and income, we disapprove of the disproportionate emphasis currently placed on state tests and fully support this new legislation. The current system, known as high-stakes testing, is particularly problematic in Rhode Island, which has a large minority population in its schools. Studies have already demonstrated the relationship between race and income non-whites, particularly blacks and Hispanics are more likely to belong to a lower socioeconomic status than whites as well as the positive correlation of household income and standardized test scores. We cannot support a system, particularly in a city as diverse as Providence, that implicitly places tremendous importance on factors such as socioeconomic status and race. Another major point of concern is how high-stakes testing disadvantages English Language Learners, who make up roughly 20 percent of the states student body. These tests focus heavily on English, making them additionally challenging for those still learning the language. It is perfectly reasonable to expect students graduating from Rhode Island schools to be able to speak English yet it is unreasonable to penalize students for the failings of their schools. As various groups such as the Rhode Island Teachers of English Language Learners, Childrens Policy Coalition and the LEP/ELL Advisory Council have noted, the supports that have been mandated to assist struggling students towards proficiency are not in place. But high-stakes testing has repercussions for all students, not only those in Rhode Island. For example, a student who succeeds in his automotive class and plans to attend a technical college may be forced to drop the class after testing below proficiency on a state test. Similarly, a cello player who is the best in her schools orchestra may test poorly in English and therefore have to drop orchestra to make the time to study for the test again. With such a narrow focus on English and math, standardized state tests ignore the fact that the potential of many students lies in their creativity or their technical skills, rather than their knowledge of grammar or algebra. By removing standardized tests from the graduation requirements, Rhode Island would create a more productive school environment for their disabled and minority students, as well as for students for whom English is a second language. Rhode Island ought to be investing in helping students improve, rather than imposing requirements that a huge percentage of students will unfortunately not be able to meet. The lawmakers who introduced the bill, State Rep. Eileen S. Naughton, D-Warwick, and Sen. Harold M. Metts, D-Providence, proposed for schools to notify parents when their children fall behind and put in place interventions to help those students improve. Naughton and Metts have a solution to the problem, and it is not high-stakes testing. editorials are written by The heralds editorial page board. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.
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cest National Network that one out of every six American women has been a victim of sexual assault. Closer to home, according to Browns Sexual Assault Task Force, one in four women who attend college will be sexually assaulted during her academic career. I refer to women here to make a point about frequency, but it should not be left unsaid that 3 percent of American men have also reported an instance of sexual assault at some point in their lives. bly an experience that they have endured. Joking about rape trivializes a traumatic event and makes the victim feel silly for thinking its a big deal. This contributes to a rape culture already denigrating victims in a couple of salient ways: victim blaming she deserved it and attitudes that women secretly enjoy rape, as is often depicted in pornography. Rape culture is what contributes to absurd court rulings like the one in AustraGiven the frequency of sexual assault, on campus or otherwise, there is also a high likelihood that you are speaking about it in front of someone who has committed the crime. This may seem absurd, but it is a statistically valid assumption that demands consideration. When you joke about rape or sexual assault in front of someone who has committed it, you are reducing his or her terrible crime to a laughable topic. Though it may be unintended, you are granting a small amount of tacit approval to the assailant in the room. Even if you dismiss this point completely and are so sure those around you are fully and completely aware of all implications of consent and sexual relations, can you say the same of all the people who consume the media that make these jokes? Are you so sure that everyone in this country is on the same page about respecting partners and attaining consent? Rates of domestic and partner violence would say differently. The fact is that not everyone gets that its a joke. As long as we are living in a culture where respect for women and recognition of the nature of sexual violence is so clearly lacking, we cannot expect our audience to make the connection that the content of our joke is actually a serious crime. Leigh Thomas 15 is from Irvington, new York. She can be reached at leigh_thomas@brown.edu.
A friend recently asked me to define the term rape culture. He was grappling with claims he had observed on the Internet saying that rape jokes should be protested because they contribute to rape culture. After explaining that rape culture refers to a set of societal norms, attitudes and practices that normalize, trivialize and even condone rape, I presented a case for why people should not make rape jokes. To those of you for whom the answer might seem self-evident, bear with me. I can, for the sake of argument, give credence to opinions that no topic is above humor. I agree that censorship is not the means to address the issue, but I will make a case that rape should not be socially accepted as a category of mockery. The basis of this argument will not be that the jokes are offensive. If one is concerned with offending someone else, it should be obvious that a joke about rape or black people, or women and so on should not be made. I concede that, for my opponents, offensiveness by itself is not enough to condemn a brand of humor. However, there are much stronger reasons for shunning rape jokes. Let me begin by drawing attention to the statistic from the Rape, Abuse and In-
when you joke about rape or sexual assault in front of someone who has committed it, you are reducing his or her terrible crime down to a laughable topic.
These statistics indicate a fact that is often overlooked: When you joke about rape, there is a high likelihood that you are doing so in front of someone who has experienced it or someone who knows someone who has. This is not an issue of offending someone. It is an issue of bringing up very specific and painful memories that elicit feelings of fear and isolation. Beyond this, a rape joke invalidates the experience of the victim who potentially overhears it. For victims who have gone through the court system, this is proba-
lia that acquitted a man of sexual assault on the grounds that he could not have removed the alleged victims very tight jeans without her assistance. This climate causes victims to doubt their innocence in sexual assaults, producing feelings of guilt where they are completely inappropriate. If you dont believe me that we are living in a rape culture, think again of that statistic of one in four women. Clearly not enough people think its wrong or that its punishable. This brings me to my second point.
It was hailed by some as a victory for free speech. Former Speaker of the House and presidential candidate, Newt Gingrich described it as a fight for the First Amendment rights of every American. But the watershed Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission in 2010, which struck down any law that limited the amount of money that independent groups could spend in a campaign, has reminded us all of why politicians are so maligned. First, there is Gingrich. After vocally supporting the Citizens United ruling, Gingrich was absolutely pummeled with negative ads by Restore Our Future, a super PAC that supports former governor Mitt Romney. It is estimated that 45 percent of all political advertisements leading up to the Jan. 3 Iowa caucus were antiGingrich ads, the majority of which were paid for by Restore Our Future. Gingrich, who had been surging in many polls before the ad deluge, finished a distant fourth in Iowa. Theres nothing like a crushing defeat to make a politician into a crybaby. Gingrich referred to the ads as mud and junk. Frankly, if Gingrich doesnt enjoy having tens of millions of dollars spent to derail his campaign, he shouldnt have supported the Supreme Court ruling that made
Only a politician could whine about super PACs in one state while riding them to victory in another.
grich claim, with remarkably straight faces, that they have no control over what their super PACs are doing, one has to wonder just how stupid they think we are. Restore Our Future is run almost exclusively by former Romney campaign aides. Not shockingly, the pro-Gingrich super PAC, Winning Our Future, is full of Gingrich groupies. Only a politician could whine about su-
That was 2010. But earlier this month, the president had his top surrogates lobbying their richest supporters to dump money into Priorities USA Action, a super PAC that supports him. This is pure hypocrisy. Its akin to a company protesting federal bailouts and then demanding one for itself. According to the Obama campaign, the move was necessary in order to combat the vast quantities of money super PACs
A number of University measures including increased officer presence, heightened emphasis on SafeRide and blue light emergency phone installation has contributed to a decline in on-campus crime rates in recent years, according to a Feb. 13 community safety information email sent by President Ruth Simmons. But the 151 blue light emergency phones on campus primarily give students a sense of security and are rarely used in practice, said Paul Shanley, deputy chief and executive officer of the Department of Public Safety. In the event that a student presses the emergency call button on a blue light phone, an officer is immediately dispatched to the area. The blue light phones continue to provide students with a quick way to contact the Department of Public Safety, but the system has been largely replaced by the use of cell phones, Shanley said. The blue lights make students in the community feel safer, Shanley said. The system gives them a place just to press a button for assistance. The system provides students with peace of mind, said Lisa Franklin 14, a Safewalk supervisor. Theres a general impression
that students can breathe a little bit easier with the blue lights around, Franklin said. Students do not misuse the system through prank calls, Shanley said, adding that a false alarm is a rare occurrence. If no one is there when an officer arrives, the officer will check to see if the phone malfunctioned or if someone pressed the button and left. In addition to this occasional check for blue light phone malfunction, DPS works to systematically maintain the service and minimize errors. Every month, a security officer works with Facilities Management to make sure each phone is working, Shanley said. Franklin said she is also working to get an extra button installed on the blue light phones that will allow students to have Safewalk dispatched. The hope is that this will give the blue light phones an extra use, she added. This will make approaching a blue light less intimidating, because now the impression is that police officers will flood the area, Franklin said. As the University grows, the blue light system will continue to expand to meet the needs of students across campus, Shanley said. The University is currently installing additional lights near the new Warren Alpert Medical School
Though university measures like the blue light emergency system have contributed to declining crime rates, very few students choose to use the on-campus phones in the event of an emergency.
building and in other areas where new construction is taking place. Though the usage rate for the
blue light system is low, installing additional phones is well worth it, Shanley said.
Its just another tool for students to use for safety purposes, he said.
Since gaining its independence from the Swearer Center for Public Service two years ago, the Rhode Island Urban Debate League has increased its impact and continued to create learning opportunities for high school students by allowing them to receive academic credit for debating. Though the league is now a registered nonprofit, the University continues to financially support the organization, helping it to expand to more districts and develop new programs. While the league originally split from the center two years ago, we are kind of at (the) jumping point now for expansion, said Ashley Belanger, executive director of the league. The league currently has four members on its Board of Directors and hopes to double the boards size by May, Belanger added. The league also plans to engage more universities, local businesses and philanthropists as the program expands. The program currently reaches six Providence County districts. The league was created in 1999
Rhode Island could take home an Oscar this weekend, in the event that Central Falls native Viola Davis wins the statue for Best Actress for her
The Rhode Island urban debate League, formerly affiliated with the Swearer Center, gives students the opportunity to gain school credit by debating.
through a Royce Fellowship funded by the Swearer Center and became an independent nonprofit when it separated from the center two years ago. The league continues to organize debate leagues throughout the state and engages students in policy debate programs in order to improve academic outcomes and increase college readiness, according to its website. The center still houses the league and provides funding and resourc-
es. The league also relies on funding from the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues in order to remain an independent organization, Belanger said. We outgrew our place at Brown, Belanger said. It became very, very difficult for us to fundraise within Brown and, because our budget needed to grow, because of the number of students growcontinued on page 8
Garcia said. After high school, Davis studied theater at Rhode Island College before leaving the state to continue her theater study at the Juilliard School in New York City. Shes a Rhode Island treasure, said George Marshall, executive director of the Rhode Island International Film Festival and Davis former professor of communications at RIC. How often does someone from Rhode Island get nominated for best actress? The film festival will host a simulcast showing of the Academy Awards at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Providence, as well as a dinner and red-carpet event beforehand. Davis the ultimate American success story will be a principal focus of the event, Marshall said. She is very focused on giving back to the community, said Nicole Wielga, programming associate at the film festival. Davis donated money to the Segue Institute to start a theater program, Garcia said, and she has also donated to the Central Falls Library. Central Falls has been plagued by high poverty rates and declared bankruptcy last August. But Davis achievements help get rid of the misnomer that were gun-toting maniacs, Garcia said.